Forxiga generics occupy 20% of mkt 2 mths into their release

Prescriptions of Forxiga and Xigduo amount to KRW 8.8 billion in May...generics sell KRW 2.2 billion

Many generic drugs enter the market in April...60 single-agent drugs and 31 combination drugs released

Market size exceeds KRW 10 million...average prescription amount of the generic drugs reaches KRW 20 million

Forxiga (left), Pic of Xigduo

‘Forxiga (dapagliflozin)’ generics have increased their market share to 20% within 2 months of entry into the market.

 

With fierce competition unfolding in the prescription field, the total market size expanded to exceed KRW 10 billion per month.

 

However, since so many products were released at the same time, the average monthly prescription amount per generic product amounted to only around KRW 20 million.

 

According to the marker research institution UBIST on the 19th, the outpatient prescription amount of single-agent and combination dapagliflozin drugs was KRW 11 billion in May.

 

The original drugs, Forxiga and Xigduo posted sales of KRW 8.8 billion, and the combined generics of the two products recorded KRW 2.2 billion.

 

In terms of market share, the original drugs accounted for 79.9% and generics 20.1% of the market.

 

This means that the market share of generic drugs has increased to 20% in just 2 months after entry.

 

A large number of Forxiga·Xigduo generics were released after Forxiga’s substance patent expired in April.

 

A total of 90 pharmaceutical companies obtained approval for 105 single-agent drugs and 64 combination drugs.

 

By May, 60 single-agent drugs and 31 combination drugs were released.

 

The total market size has also expanded to more than KRW 10 billion per month.

 

In March, before the full-fledged addition of generics, the total market size was KRW 9.5 billion, but in May, the market increased by 15.2% in 2 months to KRW 11 billion.

 

The analysis is that the introduction of generic products in droves and fierce sales competition at the prescription site led to the expansion of the overall market.

 

Monthly prescription performance of Forxiga and Xigduo original and generic

However, with so many products entering at the same time, the average profit made by the companies was minimal.

 

In the case of single-agent drugs, 60 pharmaceutical companies recorded a total of KRW 1.44 billion in prescriptions in May.

 

The average prescription amount for each generic drug is only around KRW 24 million.

 

In the case of combination drugs, 31 pharmaceutical companies recorded KRW 772 million in prescriptions in the same month.

 

The average prescription amount per combination product was around KRW 31 million.

 

▲Boryung Pharmaceutical’s Trudapa, and ▲Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Dapalon among single-agent drugs, ▲ Boryung Pharmaceutical’s Trudapa M, ▲ Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Dapalon Duo, and ▲Kyung Dong Pahrma’s Dapamet among combination drugs, posted over KRW 100 million in monthly sales each.

 

Among 60 companies that released single--agent drugs, over half – 29 companies – earned less than KRW 10 million a month.

 

In the case of combination drugs, 17 of the 31 companies recorded monthly sales of less than KRW 10 million.

 

Sales of the original drug, Forxiga, which posted sales of KRW 5.2 billion in March, fell 9.7% in May.

 

In the same period, Xigduo’s sales fell 5.0% from KRW 4.3 billion to KRW 4.1 billion.

 

Forxiga and Xigduo’s prices did not fall despite the release of their generics.

 

AstraZeneca filed a lawsuit against the government to cancel the drug price cut and requested suspension of execution of the government’s price cut disposition.

 

The court accepted AstraZeneca's request for suspension of execution.

 

Therefore, the original drug’s price will remain the same until February next year.

 

The suspension of disposition decision is considered a success on AstraZeneca’s part as it succeeded in delaying the drug price cuts and did relatively well against the large number of generics that were introduced to the field.